Combining a busy office within the same space as a television studio presented a whole host of potential challenges, not least how to manage noise levels in such a wildly multi-use space…

Words by Toby Maxwell

UTV Ireland is a general entertainment channel that broadcasts to the Republic of Ireland and is a sister station to UTV's Northern Ireland service. It launched as a new channel at the start of 2015 from Macken House, its Dublin base.

Architect Andrew Howley of MCA Dublin described how the client decided very early on in the project that they wanted their studio to face out towards the main working office space: 'The main criteria were to get a studio that could operate with the full acoustic performance required and the office working at the same time and neither having a negative impact on each other.'

The acoustic challenges were significant. The facility is made up of a number of open plan and closed office and meeting rooms, as well as numerous acoustically technical recording and editing spaces. These technical facilities all exist within a tall ground floor warehouse-type volume surrounded by the buzz and action of the newsroom.

The architectural concept was for this space to be divided up by the placing of boxed elements throughout the space, creating spaces out of the places in-between. In order to maintain the tall 4.2m high volume and feeling of space there was no suspended ceiling and all the mechanical and electrical services were left exposed. Of course, this brought with it a few acoustic challenges: the reduction of the background noise levels created by the plant; controlling the noise break-out from the office spaces towards the open plan studio; and achieving sufficient acoustic absorption to create a comfortable high performance working environment.

Acoustics expert David Cawley described the task: 'The critical challenge of the space was the fact that it's essentially a studio to an open plan office with no physical structure between to two. We had to design the space so that we'd minimise the amount of sound propagation from the open office into the studio.'

But first came a 3D plan of the entire facility. By looking at this, Cawley explained, they confirmed that the ceiling was the biggest reflector of sound so they would need to address this in order to reduce the amount of sound reflecting from the open plan office.

Ecophon's Area Sales Manager Alan Crampton was called in to help provide a solution for the project. He said: 'You must have good acoustics in any working environment where you are communicating with somebody. We've all been in a busy restaurant and not been able to make out what a partner or person you're with is saying to you. We always put forward Class A sound absorbing products which absorb 85% plus of the sound that hits them. After acoustics comes the design they were looking for.'

Crampton explained how one solution would have been to put in an acoustic ceiling, but that some clients prefer a different design. In the case of UTV Ireland, they wanted a bespoke baffle look that would still absorb as much sound as possible.

MCA's Howley said: 'The Ecophon baffles are an aesthetically pleasing panel. They've got nice sharp edges. They're neither too glossy or too fabric a finish and they fitted in well with our architectural design and what we hoped to achieve at the end of the project.'

And the client is more than happy with the end result. UTV Ireland's General Manager Aine Ni Chaoindealbhain said: 'If you don't have decent audio, you won't get the broadcast right. It was absolutely critical for us to get the right aesthetic and the right acoustic treatment.'

'Acoustically the treatment clearly works. We have an open plan office, the news room is loud, there are people editing on open plan desks. Visually, it was critical that when people walk into the building they get a sense of the modern look - that we're a new broadcaster - and that it would achieve the wow factor. The acoustic baffles definitely give us that.'